Feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and pessaries, are generally used by women within the vagina for feminine needs, such as, e.g., to absorb menstrual or other body exudates, for pelvic support, and/or for other feminine needs. Such feminine hygiene products can be inserted into the vagina digitally, such as, e.g., by using a finger, or can be inserted into the vagina by using an applicator.
It is a common misconception that the vagina is shaped like a cylindrical tube. In actuality, the vagina is a pocket that is irregular in shape. When not distended by a foreign object, the vagina may resemble a pear shape in appearance when viewed from the coronal or front view of the female anatomy. From the sagittal or side view, the vagina is a long, thin muscular structure. Menstrual fluid typically enters the vagina through the cervix, which is generally located near the top of the vagina where the vagina is widest.
Currently available catamenial tampons are typically in the form of a circular cylinder prior to insertion in the vagina. Such tampons are generally formed from pledgets larger in size than the vaginal orifice. The pledgets are compressed to a smaller, cylindrical form with a circular cross-sectional shape in order to facilitate insertion into the vagina via the relatively narrow introitus. As fluid is absorbed from the vagina, these tampons are intended to re-expand toward their original pre-compressed size to eventually effectively cover the vaginal cavity against fluid leakage or bypass; however, such tampons can fail to re-expand sufficiently or fast enough to provide good coverage and thus can fail to provide sufficient leakage protection. As a result, menstrual fluid can bypass the tampon and leak outside the user's body.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a tampon with non-uniform expansion, such as, e.g., improved expansion characteristics in the width direction. Tampons having improved expansion in the width direction can be difficult to orient within the vagina such that the area of greatest expansion will correspond to the width of the vagina. For example, current applicators are generally opaque and circular in cross-sectional shape and thus can hide the tampon and any potential orientation, making it invisible to the user. As such, the user typically would have no indication that orientation is possible.
Even if an applicator having a non-circular cross-sectional shape were provided, the user can often be unaware that orientation of the applicator and/or tampon can affect performance. A logical orientation for a non-circular applicator is parallel to the external genitalia or labia, such that the larger width of the applicator runs front to back of the body. The vagina, however, transitions from the introitus within the body such that its larger dimension runs side to side. As a result, the logical orientation of an applicator according to the external genitalia would position the tampon with its area of greatest expansion perpendicular to the width of the vagina instead of aligned with the width of the vagina, as intended.
As such, it would be desirable to provide an applicator for properly orienting a feminine hygiene product within the vagina of a user.